Improvement in machines for making barrels



ZS T. M' HEALEY heats Sheetl MACHINES FOR MAKING BARRELS.

Patented Aug. 8,1875.

ZSh t -Sh t2. T. M. HEALEY. ee s ee MACHINES FJOR MAKING BARRELS. N.1ao-.,a15.

@SW1 w,

N. PETERS, FHOTO-IJTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D C.

yPrrrENfr OFFICE.

THOMAS HEALEY', OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMFRQyEM'ENI IN. MACHINES FOR MAKING BARRELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No; [80.8 l5, dated August 8, 1876; application filed 1 -,May 24, 1876.'

To 4all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, THOMAS M. HEALEY, of Washingtomcity, in the Districtv of-Columbia, have invented certain new-and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Barrels; and I do--llerebyi declare thatithe following is 7a* full, clear, and exact description thereof," w-hich will enableothers? skilled in theart towhich it-appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to y: theaccom pan yin g -`draw ings, and to the letters-of referencemarked thereon, which form-a" part' of fthisfspecification.

Figure 1 is-a section of device --inl which the cask-cylinders are setvup Iand trussed-l on the bilge. Fig. 2 is aplan Tof `the above, showing ther-position of the staves. Fig. 3V is acaskcylinder or blankWin .centraltrussi andfend hoop. Fig'. 4`i's1a planyiew of` caskcarrier'or feed-table, showing-section of -trusser-leg within the centralbod'yiof the same; Fig. 5 is the `same in position on trusser, filled' with cask blanks.77 Fig. Gis the caskfasflit leaves the trusser. liig.v 7 isa section of ytrusser and crozer.Y Fig.l `8isa` plan of truss'er, showing top andlowerringsof same, dog in place, driving-screw, and dotted lines representing plan of hoop-driver,` land. elevator-gage. Fig. 9is a section` offho'op-driver. Fig. 10 is aseotion ofheadholdingdevice.

The same letters andi numbers represent like parts in'allthe figures.

The object of.V this invention isto'cheapen and perfect the manufacture of casks and similar articles madeffrom ordinary staves, as contradistinguishedfr'om seamless casks. It was formerlyfound to be practically-impossible to producecasks from ordinary commercial staves, or staves made by ordinary stavelnaking machinery,that would be uniform in size and shape, one vwith another, `so that hoops can be'made for them -inisetsby measurement, withia certainty ofproperly hooping off any caskof` a.givensize-With any ofitheI sets of hoops.

The ordinar-yycut orv sawed stave is cut or sawed'as near aslmaybewith the grain of the Wood; and i-ts edgesare tapered and beveled..

with the intention and upon the-theory that, when the same number of staves of 'any-given size and taperrare 'set up intocasks andsnug ly fitted together, and onto a uniform-sized head, by trussing, the resulting casks will be uniform in size and shape. Any deviation from the elements entering into the above formula vitiates the product, as far as regards its size and shape. Commercial staves do so deviate. They vary, owing to wear and tear in the machinery making them; in their shape, as cornponent elements of the periphery of the cask; and they vary more notably With regard to the elements that are contributed to the shape of the cask by the bending of the stave, which bending is Inodied and made a varying quantity by the varying thickness, stiii'ness, and hardness of the wood composing the stave. Any variation in the length of the stave will give, When the cask-cylinder is leveled, a big end, owing to the fact that one end of the long stave is cut off nearer to the bilge than its neighbor, asl the casks are all set up, as

-near as may be, level on one end in setting up the cask.

The process and machinery herein described `overcome all of these defects, and While it cheapens the cost of the production oi' casks, so far as the raising, trussing, and Working oi' are concerned, the resulting casks are always uniform in size and shape. The operation is always under the eye, and controlled by the hand, of the operator, Who can see that the staves come together properly, and when the trussing showsl defects in the staves (that appear only in trussing) that will interfere' beyond his control with the production of a good cask, he can stop the operation ofthe machine at once, drop the cask-cylinder out, remove the defective stave or staves, and substitute good ones, and thus the percentage of unlnerchantable casks or culls is reduced. Y

In the accompanying drawing my invention is shown as applied to the manufacture of casks from staves, either tight or slack.

The taper of the staves and the size of the head to be used being ascertained, a hoop, which I call the central or bilge truss hoop,77 is made of such a size that the greatest number of small staves that are likely to be put in the hoop, in the ordinary handling and selection of the staves, shall give sufficient Wood at the chime to make a good and merchantable cask. This hoop is then put in its placer in the following device, Figs.l and 2, Sheet 1, which l call the setting-up de\ice,7 to be filled with staves. This setting-up device consists of a circular disk or rillg, a, ot' a diamcter alittle less tllan that of tlle illterior ofthe cask at the bilge. It may be grooved around its edges, to contain the elastic pressureroller r, as shown, alld is supported upon a base, d, by all uprigllt, c, of such lellgtll that it shall reach themiddle of the height of the cask. The center truss-hoop before mentioned is supported around and collcentric with this disk or ring upon suitable uprigllts b b, as shown. A second or lower disk or rillg, e. can also be used, as showll, for the steadying of the staves which are to be placed ill the opell spa-ce between the disk and the central truss-hoop. The last stave to ll the space S is to be selected of such a size that when driven home to its place it will truss the cask upon the center or bilge within the bilge-hoop. A thin hoop, h, of a diameter a little less than the truss-hoop, is placed around the end of the set-up cask, which is then ready to be removed from the settillg-up device.

In the manufacture of tight casks, the setup staves are heated or steamed. Slack casks do not need steaming or firing, but are immediately placed upon the feedtable or movable support, one method of constructing which is shown in Fig. 4, Sheet 1. This movable support is so arranged with regard to the trusser that any of the casks it carries can, at will, be made to come centrally opposite the opening of the same.

The movable feed-table, Figs. 4 and 5, Sheet l, consists of a central revolving body, f, with arms g, so arranged as to form a support for the casks it carries, either in movable pans or platforms p, as shown, or by supporting the the cask just beneath, or beneath and above the central or bilge hoop t. In this latter case the arms are attached to a vertical bolt, which moves in suitable ways up and down with the cask, and has a swivel-joint in it, so as to allow of rotating the cask end for end, as shown at l, Fig. 5. The arms g are open at o, to allow the bent lever L to raise the caskcylinder into the trusser, or, as shown by dotted lines, to permit the insertion of the cask. The support or feed-table is kept horizontal or in its proper plane by the upper and lower plates j and k.

The lifting of the cask is effected either by a bent lever, as shown at L, running in loops q q, counterpoised by means of a weight-cord and pulley, if', or by a plunger coming up from below, actuated by suitable levers; or tile bent lever L may be arranged so as t0 rotate upon its vertical part, alld carry in or bring out the cask-blank at will. The cask-blank is then lifted into the trusser, which is an eccentric chuck, so constructed that the segmental circle formed by the interior of its compressing dogs or plates shall be the colltour of the exterior ofso much of -the cask, when finished, as is within their grasp, when the same are thrown ill toward the center far enough to make the cask ot' the shape alld size required.

The. compressingchuck, Figs. 7 alld 8, Sheet 2, is composed of Lipper and lower rings containing` within them suitable dogs for trussing the staves. The lower rillg A, mounted on suitable supports l l, has upon its upper surface a greater or less number of equidistant radial grooves a, Fig. 8, whose sides are parallel alld grooved out to receive the tongues ofthe dogs, as shown by dotted line at e', Fig.

8. Tllese dogs are made of one or more pieces, as shown at Figs. 7 and 8; a lower and broader plate, c', whose edges t in the grooves of the lower ring of the chuck, as shown by the dotted lille at b1, Fig. 8, serrated or tillely grooved upon its upper surface, as shown in Fig. 7; an upper narrower' plate, e', Figs. 7 and 8, serrated on its lower surface to match c. The two plates of the dogs are bolted together by the bolts b2, at Fig. 7, sliding in slots, in such a mallner as to allow of motion upon one another, in a radial direction when mounted ill the chuck, when the bolts are loosened, and to be rigid in regard to one another when the same are tightened. Attached to the inner ends of the upper and lower plates of the dogs, by suitable hinges 0r catches f', Fig. 7, are the inner plates e e', shaped as above described. rEheslidingof the upper upon the lower plate will accommodate diierentsized casks at the bilge, made so by a different curvature of the edges 'of the staves. The face-plates of these dogs are made long enough to reach from a poillt sufficiently near the bilge of the cask to insure its proper trussillg near the bilge to witllin a Ashort distance of the chime of the cask, leaving room enough to putl on the necessary hoops.

The lower ring A of the chuck is provided with suitable bearings or projections, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, to support the crozer and the swivel-bearing G of the driving-screw. The upper rillg of the chuck has its lower face and outer edge rabbeted outto ride easily on the flange Z', Figs. 7 and 8, and has upon its lower surface eccentric grooves, shown by the dotted lilies in A, Fig. 8, traversing its breadth, made to receive the lugs d d', Figs. 7 and 8, of the dogs, and a projecting support, E, Fig. S, for the swivel-nut F of the drivillg'screw D.

The motion of the upper Aupon the lower plate is effected by means of the screw' D running in the swivel-bearing Gr attached to the lower ring, and the swivel-nut F attached to the upper rillg of the chuck. This screw is driven either by llandwheel (lor by suitable belting or gearing. The whole chuck is so constructed that the motioll of the upper upon the lower ring will increase or .lessen the diameter of the circle formed by the plates e of the dogs. The chuck being open the cask-blank, Fig. 3, Sheet 1, is lifted into the chuck to the desired height, which can be measured by they hoop-driver and gage, (shown by the dotted lilles 1 2 3 4, Fig. 8,) alld again at Fig. 9, which revolves on the stem, (shown at 4, Fig. 9,) over rfp ulley aro un other support, carries, sus- L,':pended Qver entenot'; the c-huckthe hol- ,.'QW Spindle h o y en talpulleylf; ruiming in a f, collar-',-JeV-ljl elowe-rsurfaceof thiscollar, and the-uppermsurface-o-the support, are, re-

spectively, hollowed ou-t-andyzrounded off in tlie'mannersheipnatQ so .that therpulley I 1an-d coll-ar, e ca e-moved-out oil-the horizontral- Wtllout ,Y cinfgwi-ththe motion of the 10S wuaxis the pulley I-is hollow,

Y a "1' .j nch-.Cihe upper uri and itszinneredg returned out with a regugslar flare, as showvpn,y Passing through the hol- ;lo-w 4spindleot-theipplley I is the vertical shaft .,=withfitsysleeveM.which-carries at its -up- ;.perendthe bearing' tokeep the sha-ft P axi. ,gal-ly witbithejsl Mt., The sleeve M has an outerfbearingp-Kf, ached to the collar J .by r1-suitalolefastenings.;. This bearing keeps the sleeve:cleen-,i of thefl-fpulley I, and yet allows free vertical motion of the sleeve. The shaft P carries oni'and irmlyzattached to its upper end, 4

y pulley, R. The sleeve M is attached to and carries the box or casing V, as shown. The extreme point of the shaft P is turned oli` to run in the adjustable step a2, attached to the casing V, as shown. There is a collar upon pulley R,`on which the box or'casing V rests. The small pulley T, driven by the pulley R, has its bearings in the box V. The'shaft of this pulley T extends down below the casing, and carries the cutter-head U, whose cutting-blades are shaped to level, chamfer, croze, and howel 'the staves of one end of the cask.

The bearing of the small pulley T is arrangedat such a distance from the shaft P that, when said shaft is vertical, the cutterhead will operate on the cylinder of the cask, of the size made in the chuck.

A guide-hoop, X, of a size to t loosely on the end of a trussed cask, is attached to the boxV by the bars W running through the loop Z. The cam or compound lever Y is fastened at one end to the box V, at y', and by the other end to the bar W, by a screw working in a slot to allow of adjustment for different size casks, and by its operation makes the cutterfhead ,U approach or recede from the hoop X, the hoop and attachments are counterpoised by a weight, cord, and pulley, as shown, or raised andv lowered by a lever or other suitable device.

The cask having been trussed into shapewhich operation is superintended by the operator, who, with his hammer, keeps the staves straight and to their places-as the pressure increases, the hoop X is brought down. The plate O, engaging in the pulley I, starts the pulleys It and T, carrying the cutter-head U, lwhich is engaged in the Cask-cylinder by the cam Y, and then the guide-hoop X is rotated by hand around the cask as fast as possible, without chokingor stopping the cutter-head U. The cam Y then withdraws or disengages thecutter-head U, and the hoop X is' lifted up and out ofthe Way. The chuck is then-opened suiiiciently to allow the head of the cask, held by the hand, or by a device like that shown in Fig. 10, to be introduced into the croze of the cask. f

The 4- chuck lor trusser is then tightened again with the head in place, and permanent or temporary hoops are placed or driven upon the cask by the hoop-driverwhose action can be easily understood from the drawingerwith an ordinary hammer. Two kinds of temporary hoops are shown Vat Fig.f6, on a cask whereon only end hoops have been placed. The chuck or trusser is then opened, the cask is lowered down upon the feed-table, and another brought under the chuck and lifted up; or the same one can be reversed, and the operation labove described be repeated on 4the other end.

In trussing the second end of a cask, the thin hoop h, whose use has been to prevent the flaring out of the staves, is removed as soon as the closing of the chuck renders it -.-loose.

In working off the second end of a cask, a dust-pan, D', or a similar device, is used to catch the dust, which, when full, is emptied through an open cask-blank onto'the pan, and removed.

In making tight work of considerable size, the first end of the steamed blank can be trussed, and a hoop of the proper size put on. It is then released from the chuck, reversed, and the second end is trussed and worked off first, to save reheating.

The casks made in the manner above described are of uniform size and shape. Irregularities in the width of the staves are crushed out, and in tightwork the lateral and concentric pressure forces the bers of the Wood of the edge of each stave into that of its neighbor, thus insuring a tight and stiii'joint. The distortion at the bilge that results from hard trussing, done in the old manner of driving on truss hoops, whereby the bilge of the cask is actually opened, is avoided.

The cheapness of the machinery, and the few hands that are required .to work it, in comparison with other cask machinery, places it in the reach of even the smallest coopering establishments.

I do not claim as of my invention the production of bilged casks by compression of the iibers of the wood, for the bilge of the casks, the manufacture of which has just been described, is made and intended to be made by the taper of the staves, and the trusser acts as a compressor only when irregularities exist in the end of the staves; nor do I claim the securing of heads in casks by compressing the shells thereof onto heads cut of a less diameter than the inner diameter of the shells of the casks in the croze, for I finish or work off the cask-cylinders of the exact size of the head in the croze, and loosen the chuck just as I would loosen a truss-hoop to open acaskshell made to [it a head by the method longin practice; but

What I do claim is- 1. In a machine for setting up staves in a cask, the combination of the base d e, center disk a, and elastic pressure-band r, and rigid outer bilge-hoop t, as and for the purpose su bstantially as described.

2. In a machine for making casks from staves, the combination of an eccentric compressing-chuck, A B, movable cask-support f g, and chamfering and crozing device, constructed and operating substantially as de. scribed.

3. In a machine for making casks from staves, the combination of the lifting device L and the compressing-chuck, above described, to overcome the irregularities in the width of the staves, to form casks of auniform size and sha-pe at the chime, substantially as described.

4. In a chuck for compressing casks, such as above described, the combination of the plate c', plate b', bolts b", with the plates e', as and for the purposes described.

5. In a machine for making casks and similar articles from staves, the combination of the rings A and B, dogs e', swivel-bearing G, swivel-nut F, and screw D, constructed and operating substantially as described.

6. In a machine for making casks from staves, the device for leveling, chamferin g, and crozing, composed of the combination of the vertical shaft P, sleeve M, collar J, pulley I, support Q, frictional plate O, pulleys R and T, cutter-head U, guide-bar -W, guide-hoop X, and cam Y, constructed and operating substantially as described.

7. The process herein described for setting up casks from staves, in a rigid central trusshoop, so as to be of uniform diameter at the bilge, and then compressing the outer ends of the staves to form a regular curve from near the bilge to the chime, crozing, leveling, and chamfering or working off the staves to an even thickness, and putting on permanent or temporary end hoops, either with or without the head in place, whereby hoops made in sets will fit upon the cask and hold the staves upon uniform-sized heads, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I ax my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOS. M. HEALEY. Witnesses:

JNO. D. PATTEN, J. L. OoNDRoN. 

